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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

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LewisB
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by LewisB » Tue Jan 17, 2017 11:39 pm

Evening all,

I'm trying to locate the diff oil fill and drain holes. Does anyone have any photos of the location on their coupe?

I believe I've located the fill whole (photo below) and I've read conflicting advice that the drain hole should be on the right hand side (if looking from the rear).

Do any of you have a preferred brand?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers, Lewis.
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Fill plug on diff?!?
Fill plug on diff?!?
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adam1985
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by adam1985 » Wed Jan 18, 2017 9:39 am

When I got my diff oil changed the mechanic told me that there is no drain hole and you either have to suck out the old oil via the fill hope or remove the whole end plate from the diff to drain.
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Marlon
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by Marlon » Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:19 am

I asked my Indy to change the gear box oil and Diff oils and he came back saying they are 'life time' sealed units and there's no need to change oils. However, as Adam says you can change these oils but it involves sucking it out. I'm going to use an Indy BMW specialist for my next service - they should know what they are doing.
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Roundozo
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by Roundozo » Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:26 am

I used an old brake bleeding system. Put one end in the diff fill hole, created a vacuum in the tank and it sucked out the oil. Then re filled until it came out the fill hole again. It's probably a lot easier with the correct pump and a hell of a lot easier to drain with the cover plate off. The only issue with taking the cover plate off is that you will need to re-seal it following the correct method.
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srhutch
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by srhutch » Wed Jan 18, 2017 2:23 pm

Roundozo wrote:I used an old brake bleeding system. Put one end in the diff fill hole, created a vacuum in the tank and it sucked out the oil. Then re filled until it came out the fill hole again. It's probably a lot easier with the correct pump and a hell of a lot easier to drain with the cover plate off. The only issue with taking the cover plate off is that you will need to re-seal it following the correct method.
A cheap pump used to extract oil from your engine would do the job easy enough. Under £15 normally for one of them.

Going to use min on my lawn mower soon. Will save me turning the mower upside down, which no doubt would cause a mess somewhere.
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Roundozo
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by Roundozo » Wed Jan 18, 2017 2:37 pm

srhutch wrote:
Roundozo wrote:I used an old brake bleeding system. Put one end in the diff fill hole, created a vacuum in the tank and it sucked out the oil. Then re filled until it came out the fill hole again. It's probably a lot easier with the correct pump and a hell of a lot easier to drain with the cover plate off. The only issue with taking the cover plate off is that you will need to re-seal it following the correct method.
A cheap pump used to extract oil from your engine would do the job easy enough. Under £15 normally for one of them.

Going to use min on my lawn mower soon. Will save me turning the mower upside down, which no doubt would cause a mess somewhere.
I should really change the oil in my mower but never quite get round to it. Think it's currently about 10 years old! :oops: :o
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LewisB
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E86 diff oil fill and drain location

Post by LewisB » Wed Jan 18, 2017 11:46 pm

Thanks for the top advice as usual. I'll have a think about whether to get a local Indy to do it or myself! :thumbsup:
Z4 3.0si Sport Coupe - Ruby Black - Champagne Nappa leather - my weekend drive......

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